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Toa/Dark Hunter War
The Toa/Dark Hunter War was a large-scale conflict within the city of Metru Nui. History Centuries prior to the conflict, The Shadowed One had been attempting to set up a permanent base on the island-city of Metru Nui. His plan was to release the Kanohi Dragon - a Rahi beast sealed in the waters nearby- and offer the Dark Hunters' services to protect the city from it. Dume refused, and one of the Dark Hunters attempted to assassinate him before a group of Toa intervened. This group- later dubbed the Toa Mangai - would defeat the dragon on their own and send it to Xia after its recapture. The Shadowed One developed an obsession of claiming the city soon after. He made several attempts to build his base, including a botched attempt at kidnapping Turaga Dume. The Dark Hunters would clash with the Toa Mangai on a regular basis, often being driven away. After three hundred years, The Shadowed One concluded that the best way to control the city was to conquer it. Confident in his organization's numbers, he launched a military campaign to capture Metru Nui. Though the Toa Mangai attempted to fight off the invasion alone, they quickly found themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of operatives. The Toa and Dume were cornered at the Coliseum while the majority of the Matoran population went into hiding. After multiple attempts to break through their ranks, Naho managed to slip through during one of their attacks. Sneaking past their naval blockade, Naho landed in the dome containing Lesovikk's former homeland. Though the Turaga of the island was initially reluctant to involve himself in the affairs of Metru Nui, Naho managed to convince him after confronting him with his land's dark past. This won his support, and he set out recruiting Toa from beyond. Over a hundred responded to his summons and were led back to Metru Nui to reclaim it. The arriving ships broke through the blockage and carved a path towards the coliseum, breaking the iron ring around it. With breathing room and a chance to return to the city, Toa Lhikan launched a series of operations to reclaim each Metru. The first one targeted was Le-Metru, which housed the Moto-Hub. Wishing to regain control of the Chute system, Lhikan and Nidhiki began orchestrating a series of strikes to weaken the Dark Hunters' hold on the Hub. Once the Toa had claimed the Hub, they would use the Chutes to deliver supplies and troops at greater rates. From here, the Toa launched simultaneous assaults on the remaining districts. Ta-Metru and Po-Metru were initially the primary targets of these raids. Both districts were heavily guarded, with automated defenses and war machines prowling around. At this point in history, the Toa could only set outposts within them. Raids and strikes were the most common mission types, with the occasional recon, Matoran rescue, and intelligence gathering. Word of chemical laboratories within Ga-Metru reached Naho's audio receptors. Fearing the possibility of the Dark Hunters wielding chemical weapons, she began organizing fireteams to destroy the facilities. Many Toa used the waterways to conduct espionage, including a Toa Mangai of Ice and Naho herself. Once the Dark Hunters were driven away, the Toa began began setting up makeshift hospitals for their wounded. During one raid, the contents leaked into a section of the Archives below. An Onu-Matoran had the misfortune of being dosed in the substances, and was mutated as a result. This individual would become Subterranean , who would flee with the Dark Hunters near the end of the war. Concurrently with Ga-Metru campaign, the Toa quickly learned of the Dark Hunters' usage of Onu-Metru's Fikou Web tunnels. They attempted to flush them out of the system, but the Hunters were heavily fortified in the region. Clashes with Rahi roaming about also made it difficult for them to break through their defenses. Ko-Metru became a major objective for the Toa when they learned of the Dark Hunters attempting to use the Knowledge Towers to read the future. Strike and fireteams were sent to reclaim the Towers covertly, due to the delicacy of the structures. Dispute their efforts, many were destroyed over the course of the war. The two armies would be at a stalemate for the next few months. The tides would change when Toa Nidhiki encountered Lariska in Ga-Metru. Convincing the Toa of Air that they would inevitably win, he decided to form an alliance with them. In exchange for lordship over Metru Nui, he would be willing to aid in the capture of the Coliseum. A message was sent to The Shadowed One regarding his betrayal, and he granted them permission to proceed. His only condition was that the Toa of Air be eliminated afterwards. The two meet the next day to discuss their plans. Nidhiki would lure Lhikan and Dume's guard into the Canyon of Unending Whispers into an ambush, allowing Lariska to remove Dume herself. Unbeknownst to them, Lhikan trailed Nidhiki and discovered his treason. A Skakdi guard by the name of Hakann detected him, though he didn't bother to alert his allies. Rather, he saw an opportunity to escape the conflict alive and humiliate his commanding officer. Once she and her spy left, Hakann confronted the Toa of Fire. He bargained for the lives of himself and his fellow Hunters in exchange for a Makoki Stone he claimed to have stolen. Wanting to complete his mentors' last request, Lhikan agreed on a condition of his own; that the Dark Hunters take Nidhiki with them when the leave the city. The next day, Nidhiki led his brothers and sisters to the Canyon. The Dark Hunters sprung their trap and surrounded them, only for the Toa to spring their own. Lhikan had them and the traitorous Toa of Air exiled from the island, thus ending the war. Aftermath For the next millennium, the Hunters kept their word. Outside of the City of Metru Nui, many began questioning the Toa in moral convictions after hearing of their military during the war. Their reputation was saved by a public announcement from Dume, who exposed the Dark Hunter's desire to control the crown jewel of the Matoran Universe. Though this made the public more aware of the dubious nature of the Dark Hunters, the criminal underworld would fear and respect them even further. Some individuals also couldn't help but notice the absence of the Brotherhood of Makuta during the conflict, calling their commitment to order into question. Many of the Toa recruited by Naho departed from the city to resume their normal lives and find their own adventures. Some lingered on to receive medical and psychological treatment before leaving as well. The Brotherood had been monitoring their military during the conflict, and many found themselves employed as Toa Hagah. The war left a scar on the Toa Mangai of Water, and she wished to retire from service. Handing him some Toa Stones she created, she concluded that he would be a better judge of character than her when the time to select her successors came. Geography and Warfare The Coliseum The Coliseum served as the main headquarters of the Toa Mangai. Although the Dark Hunters managed to corner them there, the arena's systems were instrumental in keeping them from overtaking the building. Dume was barricaded here through the war, and guarded at all times. Toa would rotate shifts as commanders of the Vahki units assigned to him. Once Naho broke the Dark Hunters' grip on the Coliseum's outskirts, the arena became a training ground for all soldiers. Many Matoran were given self-defense training by Naho, with some being given the role of spies by Dume and Lhikan. Due to the numbers of novice Toa dwarfing veterans, many of them would regularly be given exercises and training in their powers and abilities. Deep within the lower levels was a chamber for interrogation. Various breeds of Vahki would be used in the sessions in an attempt to glean information from their prisoners. Ta-Metru The Dark Hunters used the factories to forge their instruments of war. Many Ta-Matoran were captured and forced to work in the foundries, often forging immoral Kanohi and weapons for troops. Production was overseen by high-ranking members of the guild's engineering corps. Whatever couldn't be built at the district would often be sent to Po-Metru for completion. Many of the invaders developed a habit of throwing prisoners into the Protodermis Reclamation Furnace during their stay there. Vahki Hunters were either killed or captured on sight due to their diet of machinery. Reports claimed that Prototype developed a fear for the beast due to his near-absence of organic tissue. After the Toa managed to secure a foothold in the district, they made it their mission to steal as many of the Dark Hunters' blueprints to their weapons and equipment as they could. Ga-Metru When the Dark Hunters took control of the district, they converted it into a port and a research center for their experiments. The science corps of the guild held a major presence there, tinkering with chemicals and substances for all sorts of purposes. During the battles for control of the district, many combatants used the waterways for transport and espionage. When the Toa legion drove the Hunters out, it became their chief medical hub. The Toa Mangai of The Green was the chief of operations there, where he passed his medical knowledge down to other medics and oversaw research in combating chemical warfare. The Great Temple severed as a makeshift hospital, refugee camp for Matoran, and headquarters for their intelligence agency. Matoran who were destined to become Toa were taken to the Toa Suva, where a number of Toa Stones were created and contained. Le-Metru When the Dark Hunters took over the Moto-Hub, they gained control of all Chute networks. Many Toa were forced to take to the skylines and sewage systems to avoid patrols in the district. The Hub was also used as a laboratory for experimenting with war machines and retrofitting pre-existing vehicles. The engineering corps held some influence in the Hub. Production of war vehicles would be shifted to Po-Metru following the Hunters' retreat from the Hub, with their efforts being further strained once they lost Ta-Metru. Once the Toa reclaimed the Moto-Hub, they would use it as a beachhead to launch their attacks and deliver supplies for the effort. In response, the Dark Hunters made it a habit to destroy Chutes to disrupt caravans. Onu-Metru The Dark Hunters claimed the district early on in the hopes of finding treasures within the Archives. The intelligence corps held a presence there, forming a network hub to distribute information to the soldiers across the city. When they lost the Moto-Hub, they had to rely on the Fikou Web network to move across the city. A prison was built to hold individuals of interest for interrogation. The Dark Hunters also had hopes of taming and controlling the Rahi contained within the facility. Inspired by the Archives Massacre, the guild would often unleash the living exhibits on Toa squads. However, many Hunters also found themselves in the cross-hairs of the beasts, and they began using the tactic less often as time marched on. Attempts to tame the wild sections of the archives often ended with entire patrols disappearing (though Gatherer was more successful with individual animals than the rest of his peers). Po-Metru The open spaces of the Fields of Construction made them a valuable asset to the Dark Hunters in the early days of the war. Many of their war machines were assembled here, more often than not being their primary means of defense. The heavy activity of these instruments made recapturing the district nearly impossible for the Toa armies in the early days. Once the schematics for them were acquired from Le-Metru and Ta-Metru, however, it became easier to disable them. The open space also allowed Toa Kaita to be formed, and they were instrumental in destroying heavy-artillery. Ko-Metru Though many within the Dark Hunters initially saw little interest in the district, the intelligence corps noticed the work of the Seers soon after arrival. Intrigued by the concept of predicting the future, the head of intelligence convinced The Shadowed One the worth of the Metru. Many Ko-Matoran Scholars and Seers were abducted, being forced to give information on how to read stars and prophecies. To their annoyance, the Hunters could never get a clear reading of the night skies (either due to deliberate disinformation by their captives, Mata Nui ceasing the skies' operations, or a combination of the two). During their stay there, the Dark Hunters also seized control of Kanoka Disk production and Energized Protodermis research, collaborating with the science corps in Ga-Metru. The crowded spaces and freezing temperatures made it difficult to maneuver ground-based vehicles through the district. Many snipers were forced to use external devices for aid with their sight, and had to use high ground (either the towers or patrolling Airships). Automated defenses were a rare sight, often due to their internal mechanisms freezing. Frost Beetles used the chaos to slip in and devour Memory Crystals, and more often than not found themselves clashing with whoever controlled the towers. The delicate nature of the Knowledge Towers made them a constant hazard for both sides, with many soldiers having the misfortune of being buried under their rubble. Airships often patrolled the skylines, as well as serving makeshift offices for researchers. It has been known that both sides would bring down Towers if the information contained within them was deemed too sensitive to lose to the enemy team. Great Barrier Many naval battles were fought here. In the early days of the war, the Dark Hunters controlled the majority of the Sea Gates. When Naho slipped through and returned with an army of Toa, however, she was able to regain control of some of them. The Dark Hunters would also lose access to the underwater Chutes when the Toa retook the Moto-Hub. Snipers and spies made good use of the cliffs and other formations dotting the area. Sea Gates were outfitted with turrets to ward off enemy ships. Known Combatants Toa * Toa Mangai ** Lhikan - Commanding Officer ** Nidhiki - Traitor, exiled. ** Naho ** Gravna ** Tiro ** Mafa *Bercilak *Soalaz *Orde *Decill * Majority of the Toa Souto - Disbanded, all but two KIA at the time. * Majority of the Toa Vastrius * Toa Rodok - Allegedly, status unknown * Several Toa Kaita ** Spirit of Nature's Wrath ** Spirit of the Void ** Spirit of the Twin Suns ** Spirit of the Deep ** Spirit of the Storm ** Spirit of the Great Swamp ** Spirit of the Dunes ** Spirit of Vengeance ** Spirit of Faith ** Spirit of Glory Dark Hunters * Lariska - Commanding Officer * Eliminator * Lurker * Poison * Vengeance * Tyrant * Krekka * Sentrakh * Tracker * Spinner * Gatherer * Prototype * Hakann * Charger * Foresight * Smog * Meteor * Scepter * Void * Discharge * Shield * Render * Proto-Beast * Drakaal * Firebrand * Faceless * Inquisitor * Nomad * Rampage * Telerath - KIA * Torak Other * Several Matoran **Jotun **Mahow **Subterranean - Mutated **Relic - Technically was a Tahnok at the time * Vahki * Jethryn Category:Wars Category:Battles and Conflicts Category:Metru Nui